Twitter budgets are climbing as big brands identify the channel as a good way to achieve return on investment and deliver clear messages to customers.

Twitter management solution Social Bro said its research revealed 57 per cent of business spend 50 per cent more on Twitter than they did just two years ago.

Some 15 per cent of the businesses surveyed said their investment had tripled.

The survey also uncovered differences in social media objectives between smaller and bigger businesses. Most smaller business of up to 200 employees rated brand building as their key reason for using Twitter with lead generation in second place.

But bigger companies with more than 500 employees were much more likely to list acquiring new customers as a top priority along with building relationships with influencers.

Javier Burón, CEO of SocialBro, said: “These findings reflect the fact that Twitter has really matured in the last couple of years, introducing new ways of advertising and revamping its design.

“Companies expect to see hard business benefits and they accept that it is worth investing to deliver a consistent and creative brand experience that achieves measurable return on investment.”